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Saturday, November 18, 2006

Moanalua 2-way player Eselu picks Oregon

Staying home would have been nice, but Savai'i Eselu's dream is to be a tight end.

The versatile Moanalua senior gave an oral commitment yesterday to play football at Oregon. Eselu, whose GPA reportedly is 3.9, also received offers from Arizona, BYU, California, Colorado, Stanford, Utah and UNLV, among others.

Eselu played defensive end and wide receiver for Na Menehune. He also played basketball but will focus on football training this winter and spring.

Initially, Hawaii was interested in Eselu, but he expressed an interest in going away for college. UH does not incorporate a tight end in its run-and-shoot alignments.

Eselu, 6-foot-4 and 245 pounds, visited Oregon two weekends ago. He returned from a trip to Colorado this past weekend.

"After I came back, my family and Coach (Arnold Martinez) talked," he said. "My heart's always been with Oregon since I was little, so I knew."

Committing early -- letter-of-intent signing day is in February -- helps everyone in the picture.

"This will save the coaches their time and their money. They can recruit someone else," Eselu said.

Of the 10 schools that offered scholarships, only BYU wanted him as a defensive lineman. The rest pegged him as a tight end, including Cal, which pencilled him in for both sides of the ball.

» Moanalua quarterback Jordan Monico has begun to draw attention. Colorado is taking an interest in the 6-1, 200-pound athlete. Monico, projected as a possible safety in college, ran for 901 yards and 12 touchdowns in eight games for Moanalua. He amassed 157.4 yards per game in total offense.